A week on from claiming a popular victory Kimi Räikkönen was once again on the podium at the 2018 Mexican Grand Prix, the Finn suggesting tyre management was key to a good result.
Pirelli brought their three softest compounds to the Autodromo Hermanos Rodrĩguez and tyre degradation was an issue for all drivers. Despite this, Räikkönen was able to claim third place from sixth on the grid.
”Today I was pretty happy with the car,” said Kimi. “Obviously the result is not ideal but from where we started we did our maximum. We got two cars on the podium and some more points for the team.
“The first set of tyres was a bit tricky, for sure the second one was better, but that’s what we expected to be. In the first stint we tried to pass the Mercedes, but we did not manage and the tyres suffered from this attempt.
“Then we changed from two stops to a one-stop strategy, knowing it would be a long race; the tyres were actually really good in this phase. In the end we ran out a little bit with the left front, but it still worked pretty good.”
Räikkönen’s impressive drive kept Lewis Hamilton off the podium but the Brit’s fourth place was enough to claim the 2018 drivers’ title. Räikkönen admits that the newly crowned five-time world champion “did the best job” and is a deserving champion.
“Hopefully we can close up in the Constructor Championship in the last two races,” said Kimi. “Congratulations to Lewis; he has done the best job of any of us this year and he deserved to win.”
